EP2877034B1

EP2877034B1 - 1,3-specific intraesterification

Info

Publication number: EP2877034B1
Application number: EP13741714.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Lucas Guillermo PAN; Eduardo Pedro DUBINSKY; Martin Oscar GRONDONA; Andrés Daniel ZAMBELLI; Alberto Javier Leon
Original assignee: Advanta Holdings BV
Current assignee: Advanta Holdings BV
Priority date: 2012-07-24
Filing date: 2013-07-22
Publication date: 2018-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 2033-07-22
Also published as: JP2015522296A; AR091873A1; BR112015001616B1; US20150164101A1; US9795152B2; HUE041320T2; BR112015001616B8; ES2704278T3; WO2014016250A1; IN2015DN00523A; EP2877034A1; RU2635696C2; RU2015105971A; BR112015001616A2; UA117348C2; DK2877034T3; JP6749761B2

Description

The present invention relates to a process for increasing the SUS content and stearin content of an oil or olein fraction. The invention is defined strictly by the claims.
Some food products, such as margarine, spreads, coatings, fillings, frying oils and cooking oils, require specific properties such as spreadability, firmness, plasticity, mouth feel and the release of flavour. Natural vegetable fats or oils used for food products often do not have these properties and require modification before they can be used. The main processes used for modification of fats or oils are fractionation, hydrogenation, and interesterification. These processes are known in the art and are, for instance, described in "Food Fats and Oils", Ninth Edition; Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils.
Fractionation is the process in which the liquid and solid constituents of a fat or oil are separated and relies on the differences in melting points. For example, fractionation of an high stearic high oleic oil results in a solid, the stearin, fraction and a liquid, the olein, fraction.
Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction commonly used to convert unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids. Apart from converting liquid oils to semi-solids and/or solids, hydrogenation also increases the oxidative and thermal stability of the fat or oil. Hydrogenation can be partial or complete. Partial hydrogenation results in oils and fats of different melting ranges that depends on the hydrogenation degree and process conditions and is often used in the production of cooking oils and margarines. A major disadvantage of partial hydrogenation is that it results in high levels of trans-isomers which have been implicated in cardiovascular disease.
In interesterification two or more desired oils are blended and the fatty acids of these oils are redistributed between the triglycerides. The selection and proportions of the fat or oil types that go into the reaction mixture determine the properties of the resulting fat or oil. Interesterification can be performed by chemical or enzymatic processes. In chemical interesterification two or more desired oils are blended, dried and a catalyst such as sodium methoxide is added. This process results in the random distribution of the fatty acids across the glycerol backbones of the triglycerides. Enzymatic interesterification involves the random or position-specific redistribution of fatty acids by using an enzyme.
Kang et al. (EP 2 484 216 A1 ) discloses a method for producing 1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoylglycerol (which is a SUS compound) hard butter containing at least 85 w/w% of 1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoylglycerol among triglycerides by means of the solvent fractionation method. The fat based material used in this method comprises triacylglycerides obtained by transesterification of vegetable fat or oil having an oleic acid content of at least 80% and stearic ethyl ester in the presence of an sn-1,3-specific enzyme, followed by removal of the ethyl ester. Furthermore, the fat-based material comprises high oleic acid sunflower oil. WO2011/037296 discloses similar treatments of high oleic sunflower oil.
Brown et al. (J. Clin. Lipido., 2009, 3(5), 303-314) mentions that there is a process known as intraesterification that moves fatty acids from one triglyceride molecule to another causing the fat to become more solid.
The present inventors have now found that the enzymatic redistribution of fatty acids can be performed with only one fat or oil type instead of two or more fat types. The process in which only one fat or oil type is used is referred to herein as "1,3-selective enzymatic intraesterification". This process can be applied but not exclusively, to relatively new modified oils like high stearic high oleic oils, more in particular HSHO sunflower oil, in which a significant amount of saturated-unsaturated-unsaturated (SUU) type triglycerides is present to increase the content of SUS type triglycerides. These types of oil have a TAG distribution that allows the internal fatty acid rearrangement of the invention that leads to an enrichment of the oil or olein in SUS type triglycerides.
It is thus the object of the present invention to increase the SUS content in an oil or olein fraction. It is a further object of the invention to increase the yield of stearin upon fractionation of oils and oleins. In the research that led to the present invention, it was found that the SUS content of fats and oils can be increased by the process of 1,3-selective intraesterification. With this process it is now possible to increase the amount of saturated-unsaturated-saturated (SUS) type triglycerides in one fat type or oil which is normally rich in saturated-unsaturated-unsaturated (SUU) type triglycerides. Hereby, the functional properties of the one fat type or oil can be improved for food applications, such as, but not limited to, margarines, spreads, coatings, filings, and cooking oils.
The invention thus relates to a method for increasing the SUS content in an oil or in an olein fraction, comprising performing 1,3-selective enzymatic intraesterification on a natural starting oil or olein fraction prepared therefrom wherein the ratio between SUS and SUU is at least 1:1.5 and the SSS content is low, in particular close to 0%, wherein the natural starting oil or olein fraction is high stearic high oleic (HSHO) sunflower oil extracted from sunflower seed and not blended with other oils.
According to the invention it is now possible to effect the rearrangement of fatty acids within an oil so that the content of SUS type TAGs is increased in the end-product of the intraesterification.
The ratio between SUS and SUU is at least 1:1.5 in order for the method to work properly. This is because the conversion from SUU to SUS is an equilibrium reaction. Only with a SUU that is higher than the content of SUS a significant increase in SUS content can be obtained. A significant increase is an increase of at least 2%, preferably at least 3%, more preferably at least 5% but is most preferably at least 12%. The ratio between SUS and SUU (SUS:SUU) in the starting oil or olein fraction is therefore in order of increased preference at least 1:1.5, at least 1:2, at least 1:3.5, at least 1:5, at least 1:7.5, at least 1:10, at least 1:15.
The inventors have found that the method of the present invention works best when the starting oil or starting olein fraction has a SUU content of 30% or higher, preferably a SUU content of 35% or higher, more preferably a SUU content of 40% or higher, even more preferably a SUU content of 50% or higher.
The starting oil or starting olein fraction preferably has a minimum SUU content of 40% and a maximum SUS content of 5%, a minimum SUU content of 40% and a maximum SUS content of 10%, a minimum SUU content of 50% and a maximum SUS content of 10%, or a minimum SUU content of 50% and a maximum SUS content of 40%.
The starting oil or olein fraction is high stearic high oleic (HSHO) sunflower oil. The main characteristic in this type of oil is that U (unsaturate fatty acid) is essentially O (oleic acid). This characteristic differentiates this type of oil from regular oils in which the main U is L (linoleic).
The differences between both types of SUS triglycerides are melting behavior and oxidative stability. SOS type (saturate-Oleic-saturate) has melting points above 34°C. This fact confers them very special characteristics depending on their relative concentration in the matrix (commercial fats and oils) in which they are present. When the concentration is high (about 80 %), as in cocoa butter, the fat is brittle at room temperature and melts completely in the mouth (body temperature), which are the highly appreciated characteristics of chocolate and cocoa butter alternatives. When the concentration is still significant (about 35 %), they can be used as structuring fats i.e. in margatines and spreads. This means the capacity of retaining very high amounts of liquid oils in a special crystal network, that confers these kind of products the spreadability at low temperatures (when taking from the fridge) and a melting stability at room temperature by retaining the liquid oil. This doesn't happen with SLS type of triglycerides.
Another important characteristic is the oxidative stability. This is because the oxidation rate of linoleic acid (the main one in most of the liquid regular seed oils) is 40 times faster than oleic acid. This means that triglycerides in which U (unsaturated fatty acid) is L (linoleic acid) and accordingly the commercial fats with this kind of triglycerides, has a lower shelf life (or rancidity resistance) than those in which U is O (oleic acid).
A third significant point is when S (saturate fatty acid) is stearic acid and U is oleic acid. This is valid for high stearic high oleic oils and fractions but not for palm oleins in which the main S is palmitic acid. Stearic acid is the only saturated fatty acid with the ability of generating solid or semisolid fats that is not considered harmful from a nutritional point of view because it has a neutral behavior regarding LDL cholesterol ("bad cholesterol"). On the other hand a high concentration of oleic acid (a stable unsaturated) has a positive effect in lowering LDL cholesterol. In that way the HSHO oils (high stearic high oleic oils) and oleins, are a good alternative to trans fats and other saturates (like palm oil and fractions), that increases de LDL cholesterol and the CVD (cardiovascular disease) risk.
Further, the high stearic high oleic oils and fractions used in the present invention (coming from modified traditional sunflower) being originated from annual crops are more sustainable than tropical fats, specially because of the clearing of rainforest that takes place in the main palm oil producing countries, with very deleterious effect on environment.
According to a further aspect thereof the method described above can be used in a method for increasing the stearin yield from a starting oil or starting olein fraction upon fractionation thereof. A predictive model was developed combining fractionation and 1,3 enzymatic intraesterification process This method comprises the steps of:

a) optionally fractionating a starting oil having a ratio between SUS and SUU of at least 1:1.5 and a low SSS content, in particular close to 0%, to obtain a stearin fraction and a starting olein fraction;
b) performing 1,3-selective enzymatic intraesterification on a natural starting oil or olein fraction prepared therefrom wherein the ratio between SUS and SUU is at least 1:1.5 and the SSS content is low, in particular close to 0%, wherein the natural starting oil or olein fraction is high stearic high oleic (HSHO) sunflower oil extracted from sunflower seed and not blended with other oils, to obtain 1,3-selective intraesterified oil or olein having a higher SUS content than the starting oil or olein fraction;
c) fractionating the 1,3-selective intraesterified oil or olein thus obtained to obtain a stearin fraction and an olein fraction.

This method enables the obtention of an extra stearin fraction from the initial starting oil by performing a further fractionation step after the intraesterification process has taken place on the starting olein. The stearin yield in the second fractionation performed after intraesterification of the starting olein is the gain of the overall process. The intraesterification has enriched the olein in SUS and thus allows the obtention of an extra stearin fraction from an olein that was initially exhausted but has gained extra SUS by means of the intraesterification process of the invention.
Thus, the total stearin yield from steps a) and c) above together is higher than the stearin yield after fractionating the starting oil.
In case the method is applied to an oil, there are thus two possible scenario's, one wherein the starting oil is fractionated and one wherein the starting oil is not fractionated before 1,3-selective intraesterificaton takes place. Fractionation of the starting oil results in a stearin fraction and an olein fraction, of which the olein fraction is subsequently subjected to 1,3-selective intraesterification. This results in the production of 1,3-selective olein. However, in case the starting oil is not first fractionated, 1,3-selective intraesterification is performed on the entire oil and the resulting product is 1,3-selective intraesterified oil.
Another scenario is when not an entire oil but an olein fraction is used as the starting material for 1,3-selective intraesterification. In this case, the fractionation of step a) does not takes place within the claimed process and 1,3-selective intraesterification on the olein fraction results in the production of 1,3-selective intraesterified olein obtained by the method of the invention.
The products of these processes, the 1,3-selective intraesterified oil and 1,3-selective intraesterified olein, are subsequently fractionated in order to obtain the stearin fraction and another olein fraction.
The terms "SUS", "SUU" and "SSS" refer to the saturated-unsaturated-saturated (SUS), saturated-unsaturated-unsaturated (SUU), and saturated-saturated-saturated (SSS) types of triglycerides (TAGs), wherein "S" represents a saturated fatty acid and "U" represents an unsaturated fatty acid. Other types of triglycerides include, for instance, unsaturated-unsaturated-unsaturated (UUU), unsaturated-saturated-unsaturated (USU), unsaturated-unsaturated-saturated (UUS), saturated-saturated-unsaturated (SSU), and unsaturated-saturated-saturated (USS). Examples of saturated fatty acids include, but are not limited to, stearic acid and palmitic acid. Examples of unsaturated fatty acids include, but are not limited to, palmitoleic acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the "U" in SUS and/or SUU is oleic acid.
The triglyceride content is expressed herein in percentages of the entire oil. A SUS content of lower than 30% thus means that less than 30% of the total triglycerides of the oil are of the SUS type.
The SSS content in the starting oil or starting olein fraction should be kept as low as possible becauseSSS confers to the oil a waxy palatability because its high melting point. With the term "low" is meant less than 1%. If the 1,3-intraestrified oil or olein is submitted to a second fractionation, the SSS content should be less than 0.3 %. Preferably, the SSS content is 0%, or close to 0%.
1,3-Selective intraesterification can be performed following standard techniques known to a person skilled in the art. However, it should be noted that the 1,3-Selective intraesterification as used herein refers to the process in which fatty acids at positions 1 and 3 of the triglycerides are redistributed between the triglycerides of only one type of oil or olein fraction, i.e. on a single oil extracted from an oil source and not blended with other oils.
The term "fat" as used herein also refers to "oil", and vice versa. These terms also refer to "lipid". The words "oil" and "fat" are used interchangeably herein.
The term "olein fraction" refers to the liquid fraction from an oil obtained by fractionation of the oil. Fats or oils consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. In the context of the present invention the term "fat" or "fats" is intended to refer to a mixture of triglycerides. A triglyceride, also referred to as TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride, is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. The fatty acids can be any and any combination of fatty acid. A fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long aliphatic tail (chain), and is either saturated or unsaturated. Fatty acids that have double bonds are known as unsaturated. Unsaturated fats have a lower melting point and are more likely to be liquid. Fatty acids without double bonds are known as saturated. Saturated fats have a higher melting point and are more likely to be solid. As such, fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure and composition.
As mentioned above the term "fat" as used herein refers to a mixture of triglycerides. The mixture of triglycerides may comprise one or more types of triglycerides. Types of triglycerides include for instance unsaturated-unsaturated-unsaturated (UUU), saturated-unsaturated-unsaturated (SUU), unsaturated-saturated-unsaturated (USU), unsaturated-unsaturated-saturated (UUS), saturated-saturated-unsaturated (SSU), saturated-unsaturated-saturated (SUS), unsaturated-saturated-saturated (USS), and saturated-saturated-saturated (SSS).
The type of oil or olein fraction is obtained from sunflower seed.
The 1,3-selective intraesterification can be achieved by using different types of enzymes, such as lipases, and include, but are not limited to, RMIM and TLIM.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the 1,3-selective intraesterification is performed by using the RMIM or TLIM enzyme. RMIM is lipase from Rhizomucor miehei whereas TLIM is a lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosis (TLIM). Both enzymes can be obtained from Novozymes.
Methods for enzymatic redistribution of fatty acids are known in the art and have been described in, for instance, ("Food Fats and Oils", Ninth Edition; Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils).
During 1,3-selective intraesterification, the SUS content is increased by switching SUU type triglycerides into SUS type triglycerides, thereby increasing the solid fat content of the oil or olein fraction. It is also possible to lower an undesirable high solid fat content (SFC) level, for instance, in margarine a high level of SUU type triglycerides yields a high level of solid fat content (SFC) at fridge temperatures (below 10°C). The consequence of this is a worse spreadability of the margarine. On the other hand a low level of SUS type triglycerides yields a low solid fat content (SFC) level at room temperature. The consequence is that margarine could melt on the table. By applying 1,3-selective intraesterification both issues could be solved.
By increasing the SUS content in an oil or olein fraction, it is possible to obtain more stearin from this oil or olein fraction, which may then be used in several applications, including, but not limited to, use as a structuring fat.
The fractionation step (a) is optional because the 1,3-selective intraesterification may be applied to an entire oil as well as an olein fraction.
The method for increasing the stearin yield from a starting oil or starting olein fraction may further comprise repeating steps (b) and (c) one or more times to obtain further stearin fraction(s) and olein fraction(s). The further stearin fraction(s) thus obtained may be combined with the stearin fraction obtained in step (a) and the further stearin fraction obtained in step (c) to even further increase the total stearin yield obtainable from a single unblended oil.
Fractionation is the process in which the solid and liquid fractions from a fat are separated. Different methods for fractionation are known to a person skilled in the art. These methods include, but are not limited to, winterization, pressing, dry fractionation and solvent fractionation. Dry fractionation can be performed by, for example, crystallization.
A drawback of enzymatic 1,3-selective intraesterification might be that it is not as fast as chemical 1,3-selective intraesterification. As the reaction time increases, the selectivity of the enzymes for positions 1 and 3 of the triglycerides may decrease. As a result, part of the SUU is converted into SSS instead of SUS. It is thus preferred to optimize the reaction time in order to obtain the maximum increase in SUS content and to minimize the SSS content. The SSS content that is still acceptable will depend on the application of the end product.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the reaction time of the 1,3-selective intraesterification when using RMIM or TLIM is at least about 30 minutes, preferably between about 2 and 8 hours, more preferably between about 2 and 6 hours, even more preferably between about 2 and 4 hours, and most preferably about 4 hours.
The optimal reaction time depends on the enzyme that is used. A person skilled in the art would realize that if an enzyme other than RMIM or TLIM is used, the reaction time can be different.
The invention further relates to a stearin fraction obtainable by performing the method of the invention and use of the searin fraction in margarine, spreads, coatings, fillings, frying oils and cooking oils.
The present invention will be further illustrated in the examples that follow and that are not intended to limit the invention in any way. In the examples reference is made to the following figures.

FIGURES

Figure 1 shows a schematic overview of the method for increasing the stearin yield.
Figure 2 shows the predictive equation obtained for 1,3-selective intraesterification. The equations are developed for a more general interesterification process (selective 1,3 acidolysis). Selective 1,3-intraesterification happens when So= 0. All computations are based on moles. For simplification we will assume that the acid in the interesterefication is stearic S. Let T₀ the initial total mole concentration of the oil, [XYZ]₀ be the initial total mole concentration of a particular TAG XYZ, where X, Y, Z could be P, S, O, L, A or B, let S_o be the initial total numbers of Stearic moles. The expected final mole concentration [XYZ]_F is given by the expression in Figure 2. 1 _{W=S} is an indicator function that takes the value " 1" if W=S, and "0" otherwise. There are several assumptions for these calculations to be true, among them, the enzyme has 1,3-positional specificity and has no fatty acid specificity, there are no losses of enzyme activity during the course of the reaction, steady state is achieve after some time, there is no formation of diglycerides, no trans-insteresterification and the total moles of the oil at any time, [T]_t=T₀, similarly, [P]_t+[S]_t+[O]_t+[L]_t+[A]_t+[B]_t =S₀.
Figure 3 shows the results of the optimization of the reaction time when using the RMIM enzyme.
Figure 4 shows the solid fat content of the starting oil and starting olein fraction, and their 1,3-selective intraesterified products.
Figure 5 shows the melting point of the starting oil and starting olein fraction, and their 1,3-selective intraesterified products.

EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE 1

1, 3-Selective intraesterification of HSHO sunflower oil and olein fraction

Trials were performed with HSHO oil and a HSHO olein fraction using two different enzymes, RMIM and TLIM (obtained from Novozymes), which are selective for sn-1 and sn-3 positions of the triglycerides. In these trials 100 g of the oil or olein was treated with 10 g of either of the two enzymes at a temperature of 60°C. The reaction time was 4 hours.
Results are shown in Table 1 that shows the TAG composition of the starting oil and the starting olein fraction, and their 1,3-selective intraesterified products. Results are given for two different enzymes.
The SUS content in the intraesterified products of both the HSHO oil and the HSHO olein fraction is significantly increased, while the SUU content is significantly decreased.
The SSS content is higher for the TLIM enzyme than for the RMIM enzyme, which means that the RMIM enzyme is more selective than the TLIM enzyme as expected. When using the TLIM enzyme it may be beneficial to further decrease the reaction time in order to minimize the SSS content in the intraesterified product.

EXAMPLE 2

Method for increasing the stearin yield upon fractionating a HSHO sunflower oil or olein fraction

In a first preliminary trial, an HSHO sunflower oil having a SUS content of 9.4 was selected and subjected to a first fractionation step to yield 12.0% stearin and 88.0% olein. In short, the oil was melted and heated up to 60°C. Then, the temperature was decreased gradually until 17/20°C. The oil was then held at this fractionation temperature during 16 hrs. Stearin was separated through a membrane press filter with squeezing pressures up to 6 bars. The resulting stearin fraction had a SUS content of 38.8% which defines the quality of the final product.
The remaining SUS concentration in the olein fraction was 5.5. This SUS concentration was subsequently increased to 9.0 by 1,3-selective intraesterification. This value was determined by using the predictive equation shown in Figure 2 . The resulting 1,3-selective intraesterified olein was then used in a second fractionation step to again obtain a stearin and olein fraction. According with the level of exhaustion of SUS in the olein in the fractiontation steps, yields of stearin in the second fractionation step could range from 12.0% to 20%.Then yields for olein would be 88% and 80%, respectively. This means that the total stearin yield could range from 24 to 32.0%, which is an increase of about 12% to 20% when compared to not performing the 1,3-selective intraesterification step. One can envisage that repeating the 1,3-selective intraesterification and second fractionation steps may even further increase the stearin yield. A schematic overview of this process is shown in Figure 1 .

EXAMPLE 3

Determination of reaction conditions

1,3-Selective intraesterification is accomplished by means of enzymes (lipases). One issue that arises during this process is that with an increase in reaction time, selectivity of the enzyme for the sn-1 and sn-3 positions of the triglycerides may decrease. As a result, the SSS content in the resulting intraesterified oil or olein fraction may be higher than is desired. Therefore, a preliminary trial was performed to determine the optimum reaction time at which the amount of SUS is maximized without significantly increasing the amount of SSS.
High stearic high oleic (HSHO) olein was intraesterified with 10 % (w/w) of the Lipozyme RMIM enzyme (obtained from Novozymes). Samples were taken at 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours and analyzed after the separation of the enzyme. The results are shown in Figure 3 .
The reaction time of 4 hours was chosen as the tentative optimum time for further trials.

EXAMPLE 4

Determination of solid fat content

The solid fat content (SFC) of the HSHO oil, HSHO olein fraction and the 1,3-selective intraesterified products were determined using DSC.
Figure 4 shows that the solid fat content of the 1,3-selective intraesterified products is higher than the solid fat content of the original HSHO oil and HSHO olein fraction at temperatures above 0°C.

EXAMPLE 5

Determination of melting point

The melting point of the HSHO oil, HSHO olein fraction and 1,3-selective intraesterified products was determined using standard techniques.
Figure 5 shows that the melting point of the 1,3-selective intraesterified HSHO oil and HSHO olein fraction are significantly increased when compared to the original HSHO oil and HSHO olein fraction.

Claims

Method for increasing the SUS content in an oil or in an olein fraction, comprising performing 1,3-selective enzymatic intraesterification on a natural starting oil or olein fraction prepared therefrom wherein the ratio between SUS and SUU is at least 1:1.5 and the SSS content is low, in particular close to 0%, wherein the natural starting oil or olein fraction is high stearic high oleic (HSHO) sunflower oil extracted from sunflower seed and not blended with other oils.
Method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio between SUS and SUU is in order of increased preference at least 1:1.5, 1:2, 1:3.5, 1:5, 1:7.5, 1:10, 1:15.
Method for increasing the stearin yield from a starting oil or starting olein fraction upon fractionation thereof, comprising the steps of:
a) optionally fractionating a starting oil having a ratio between SUS and SUU of at least 1:1.5 and a low SSS content, in particular close to 0%, to obtain a stearin fraction and a starting olein fraction;

b) performing the method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 on the starting oil or starting olein fraction to obtain 1,3-selective intraesterified oil or olein having a higher SUS content than the starting oil or olein fraction;

c) fractionating the 1,3-selective intraesterified oil or olein thus obtained to obtain a stearin fraction and an olein fraction.
Method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the total stearin yield from steps a) and c) together is higher than the stearin yield after fractionating the starting oil.
Method as claimed in any one of the claims 1-4,
wherein the unsaturated U in SUS and/or SUU is oleic acid.
Method as claimed in any one of the claims 1-5,
wherein the reaction time of the 1,3-selective enzymatic intraesterification is at least about 30 minutes, preferably between about 2 and 8 hours, more preferably between about 2 and 6 hours, even more preferably between about 2 and 4 hours, and is most preferably about 4 hours.
Method as claimed in any one of the claims 1-6, wherein the 1,3-selective enzymatic intraesterification is performed by using lipase enzymes, in particular the lipase from Rhizomucor miehei (RMIM) or the lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosis (TLIM).
Stearin fraction, obtainable by performing the method as claimed in any one of the claims 3-7.
Use of the stearin fraction of claim 8 in margarine, spreads, coatings, fillings, frying oils and cooking oils.